If you haven't discovered him yet, there's no better time than "Time Being."

Whether rollicking through "St. James Infirmary" or reflecting on "Wouldn't It Be Loverly," Wilson is in top-form, always sounding quite loverly.

Few songwriters are capable of making misery sound so elegant, and even desirable.

This time, the strong songwriting and astute musical arrangements combine to make Mann's latest her best album so far.

The difference between mediocre and magnificent Morrissey records tends to be the music, and by that measure, Years of Refusal is the strongest of his three '00s comeback efforts.

Black Mountain pushes its songs further on In the Future, experimenting with druggy synthesizers and shifting musical dynamics on complex arrangements that veer from hazy psychedelia to brutal riffage.

Although it's stylistically diverse, the album feels coherent.

Accelerate serves notice that R.E.M. intends to stay that way.

No Age is certainly an adventurous band, but its sound here suffers from too much repetition.

On its ninth studio album, the group tells tales of true love and trucking--subjects all country artists are entitled to explore--but it also takes plenty of off-road detours.

Although "Queen Mary" was a strong showing, At Mount Zoomer--named for the band's recording space--is an instant classic, distancing itself from indie rock's skin-deep quirks on the way to something grander and more enduring.

Like much of Diamond's canon, these songs are rich with melodramatic flare-ups.

Seventh Tree is the inevitable comedown, a pastoral holiday that trades glittery hedonism for quiet contemplation.

Demolished Thoughts stands strong as an intriguing entry in an already eclectic catalog, even without peeking behind the curtain.

It's a gorgeous, low-key album, full of musical nuance that unfolds with slow grace and exerts an irresistible pull back to the start after the last note has sounded.

Although Cursive is still one of the best at what it does, "Happy Hollow" fails to live up to previous greatness.

The 58-year-old songsmith shifts gears and lets someone else produce for a change on Sex and Gasoline, but continues to hit the right notes and nerves on tunes with earthy roots charms bubbling over with smartly phrased discontent.

This record is far more cohesive and creative musically, but it's less inspiring lyrically.

The simpler arrangements suit Isbell on songs with an understated but unmistakable Southern rock flair.

"Friend Opportunity" is arguably Deerhoof's finest album so far, and it ensures the band remains among contemporary pop's most fascinating and forward-thinking artists.

In the context of such a refreshing, instantly likable album, even the abstract linking tracks work, breaking up the 13 sugary full-length songs and allowing each to be unwrapped and savored individually.

The Winnipeg band's fourth studio record, Fast Paced World, is a juicy mixture of components from across the musical spectrum melded into a quirky but cohesive whole.

The Kentucky-bred singer builds an ideal showcase for her strengths on Sleepless Nights, unearthing a string of jewels from country's past with a passionate, pure revival of classics both familiar and rescued from obscurity.

Swift makes good on his promise with 10 soulful new songs loaded with heart and smarts.

"Cassadaga" is an insular, self-referential album that strives for depth and profundity and sounds instead like a high-school poetry reading, full of rhyming-dictionary couplets and banal pronouncements about life.

McKay's voice is the real treat as she trips gaily from airy on "Pink Chandelier" to the vocal equivalent of a furrowed brow on "There You Are in Me."

He delivers everything that makes Silver Jews records great, but he's fallen victim to his own past successes: the peaks and valleys that made "Tanglewood Numbers" such a dizzying listen have been smoothed down and filled in, leaving the faithful with an album that is merely good.

This album veers all over the place, but it's united by spotless production, eerie control and a confidence that's well deserved.